A seventy six year old man was struck and killed by a sixteen year old Tuesday morning. The accident happened on Highway 17 near Shiloh Road. Pelzer EMS and Wren firefighters responded to the call. Troopers are investigating the incident.
Former School Board member struck and killed by car Tuesday
By Stan Welch
A former Anderson District One School Board member, James Givens Carpenter was struck by a vehicle and killed early Tuesday morning, as he crossed Hwy. 17 in the Wren area. According to Deputy Coroner Don McKown, Carpenter died at the scene of multiple traumatic injuries.
A 2001 Toyota Celica, driven by Claude Austin Juster, a sixteen year old student at Wren High School, struck Carpenter as he crossed the road to speak to a neighbor. Juster was on his way to school at the time of the accident.
Carpenter served a four year term on the District One School Board back in the Eighties, according to current school superintendent David Havird.
McKown said that the SCHP was investigating, and that charges were pending. “I did not personally know Mr. Carpenter, but several of the folks in the district offices remember him quite fondly. He was, by all accounts, a very student oriented member of the board. He is remembered for his leadership, as well.”
Havird said that the purpose of the board and the district office is to be supportive of both Carpenter’s family and the student who was involved.
“This has been a very, very difficult day for all of us here in District One, and at Wren High School,” Havird said. “As we do in times like these, we will pull together as a family and comfort each other.”
